Central gov't official explains necessity of NPC Standing Committee's decision on HKSAR LegCo

It is necessary for the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) to decide on the constitutional issues regarding the Legislative Council (LegCo) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), a central government official said in a statement released Tuesday.

Xia Baolong, head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council on Saturday explained the bill asking the NPC Standing Committee to make a decision for the sixth LegCo of the HKSAR to continue operation.

Matters concerning the vacancy of the HKSAR LegCo due to the postponement of the seventh LegCo election can only be resolved by the NPC Standing Committee at the constitutional level, as the HKSAR Chief Executive only has the power to postpone the election under the applicable law in the HKSAR, said Xia.

The NPC Standing Committee has the power and duty to properly address constitutional issues arising from the implementation of the HKSAR Basic Law, according to Xia.